Lantern



(No Model.) 2 Sheets- Sheet '1.

L. E. JOHNSON.

LANTERN.

No. 338,077. Patented Mar. 16, 1886.

n H!" hi1 4.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

L. E. JOHNSON.

LANTERN. No. 338,077. Patented Mar. 16, 1886.

HZZc4 E i f NiTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUOIUS EaJOHNsON, or AURORA, iLLiNoIs.

LANTERN.

Fi-PLLIPICAI'ION forming part of Letters Patent No. 838,077, dated March [6, 1886.

Applieaiion filed December 2, 1385. Serial No. 184,446. (No model.)

To (ZZZ whont it may concern;

Be it known that I, LUOIUS E. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Aurora, in the county of Kane and State of I-llinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lanterns; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My improvement relates particularly to the lantern used upon the rear coach of a railwaytrain to signal other trains behind it of its position upon the tracki. 6., whether it is upon the main track or upon a side track, either of which positions is indicated by a lens in the lantern of aparticular color for the purpose.

It is my object to provide a device for the foregoing purpose whereby the lantern may be readily supported to display a desired signal without requiring the operator to use more than one hand.

To this end my invention consists in the general construction of my improvement; and it also consists in certain details of construction and combinations of parts, all as herein after more fully set forth.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a signal-lantern provided with my improvement, and showing the collar, arm, and socket portions forming the support for the device; Fig. 2, a sectional plan View taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a sectional view of a broken portion of a signal lantern provided with my improvement, showing the clamp mechanism for controlling the rotation of the lantern-body; Fig. 4, a sectional view of the portion of a lantern provided with my improvement in a modified form, and Fig. 5 a broken perspective view of the same.

A is a lantern of the construction hereinbefore mentioned as being commonly employed for signaling purposes upon railway-trains, provided with a handle and having lenses B of the desired colors. The lantern-base G is of the hollow description commonly provided on lanterns of the present kind, and contains a handle, G, soldered or otherwise secured in position to afford ready means of manipulation in rotating the lantern. The latter is supported in its position on a bracket (not ings or recesses r,preferably equidistant apart,

and one for each lens of the lantern.

The handle G does not, in the construction shown in the first three figures of the draw ings, extend entirely across the hollow base of the lantern, but a space is left between one of its sides and the inner wall of the hollow base H, to receive a housing. F, secured in position and containing a bent lever, E, fulcrumed within it, as shown,which projects through an opening in the side of the base to afford a lip or clamp provided with a lug, p, coincident with the line of the openings in the ring. The lever E projects, toward its lower extremity, through the housing in which it is fulcrumed, and affords a thumb-piece, E, against the inner side of which a spring, 0, of the spiral form shown, or of any other suitable form, acts to maintain the lug p in contact with the ring O,whereby when a recess or an opening in the latter is made to coincide with the lug it will enter the same, and thus secure the lantern from rotation.

To operate the device, the handle G is grasped by the fingers of one hand, whereby the thumb may readily be applied to the thumbiece E pressure upon which will release the lugp from engagement with the ring 0, and permit the lantern to be rotated from the handle G.

The modification illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 may be considered to afford a more desirable construction than that shown in the other figures, inasmuch as by it the lever E E is in a position to be actuated by the mere grasp of the hand. No housing F is provided, but the handle G extends entirely across the base H, being properly secured therein by soldering,

for example, and has fulcrumed to it the lever with the part E directly over the handle G, and maintained in its normal condition by the spring 0, and the part E of the lever is entirely within the base H, the lug 19 upon it projecting outwardly through the lower side of the lantern-body against the inner side of the ring or collar 0, and through or into the recesses r in the same, when they are coincident with it.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with a signal-lantern, of a recessed supporting-collar, 0, upon which the lanternrotates, a handle, G, upon the lantern-body, alever, E E, fulcrumed in position within the lantern-body, a lug, 1), upon the lever, and a suitable spring, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a signal-lantern, of a recessed supporting-collar, O, a handle,

G, secured within the hollow base of the lantern, a lever fulorumed upon the handle G, a lug, upon the lever toward its upper extremity to enter through the body of the lantern the recesses in the collar, a thumb-piece,

' E, upon the lever adjacent to the handle G,

and a spring, 0, the whole being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

LUOIUS E. JOHNSON.

In presence of- MASON BRoss, TM. SADLER. 

